captplaystation
not quite sure what you mean. but yes, I am a current captain for a major airline
and we would certainly talk about changing speed to turbulence penetration speed. its called crm.
when we face rough air ahead, I brief the FA's or have the F/O brief them via the interphone. I make sure they have secured the cabin in advance of the rough air and are buckled in their seat belts.
I have a feeling our airline does things differently than your airline.
I wouldn't expect the F/O to change speeds without informing or seeking concurrence from the capt.
I would expect the captain to announce to the f/o that we were slowing to turbulence penetration speed.
And , just in case you don't know. When we get a clearance for another altitude we have a whole system of setting the altitude in the alerter pointing, saying, verifying.